Broken Wheat Pudding / Wheat payasam / Godhi Payasa

You don't see too many day to day cooking recipes except for a few rice items and a varied selection of side dishes / curries on this blog. That is because I feel everyone knows about them. And quite frankly, we like how our mothers and grandmothers cooked the everyday meal and we tend to follow them. Then you might ask why post this? The reason being not many people know about this dessert. We were served with this dessert in a gathering and some people didn't know what it was. I thought why not post it. It is of course the recipe of how my mother made this and there could be many other variations to it.

One Year Back - Vegan Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients:
Broken Wheat - 1 cup
Coconut milk or Milk - 1 cup (I used coconut milk)
Water - 2 cups
Powdered jaggery - 1 - 1/2 cups (You could use light brown sugar instead)
Cardamom - 4 pods crushed
Ghee / clarified butter or oil - 2 TBSP (If you use oil and coconut milk, it is a vegan dessert)
Broken Cashews - 2 TBSP
Golden raisins or Indian green raisins - 2 TBSP
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup or more for garnishing (fresh or dried)

Method:
Take broken wheat, water, milk or coconut milk in a pan. Stir it once cook in the pressure cooker. You could cook on stove top but will have to keep an eye on it or else it will burn. When the pressure cooking is done, take another saucepan and melt the jaggery in little water. When jaggery is melted, filter to remove the impurities. Return it to the clean saucepan and bring it to a boil. When it has boiled for couple of minutes and the raw smell of jaggery is gone, add the cooked broken wheat. Stir really well braking any lumps present. Let this come to a simmer and stay there for couple of minutes. You will have to stir frequently so that it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn.

In a small pan, take the ghee and fry cashews and raisins. Add this to the wheat and jaggery mixture. Stir. Add crushed cardamom and grated coconut. Let it all stay on low heat for couple of minutes and then turn off the heat. You can make it thin or thick the way you like it. To thin, add some milk or coconut milk. This is best served warm or cold. Not hot.

Notes: 
If you are using light brown sugar instead of jaggery, you don't have to filter it. Just melt the brown sugar in enough water and bring it to a boil and add the cooked wheat. You could dry roast the broken wheat and then cook it. It actually tastes better but will not be gooey like pudding and will have the consistency of halwa.

Have a great weekend.